Coverage: Semi opaque. It applied a bit patchy, and my lips are in good condition (no flakes).

Texture: Slippery and soft, perhaps too soft. After I rubbed most of it off with my fingerip, I ended up with stalactites and stalagmites when I spoke, similar to what I get from certain lip gloss formulas.

Finish: I didn't see much sparkle, not even in the sun. It does have shimmer, either. Powerful? Not on me. If I had to assign an adjective, I'd call this lipstick demure. If layered the finish remains glossy, but it also takes on a bit of a 60s vibe.

Longevity: Color fades about as quickly as lip gloss, as this formula has no traction. I tested this color on clean lips without primer or lip balm.

Boys N Berries. RAL describes this lipstick as "violet, fuschia, pink, berry sparkle." I see it almost the same way:

Color: Soft damson plum with pink shimmers. Quite beautiful, in fact.

Coverage: Sheer.

Texture: Oily. But not like the Chanel Rouge Coco Shine formula, more like an oily lip gloss. The texture reminds me of a discontinued line of MUFE lip glosses that were extremely silicony.

Finish: Again, no sparkles. Standing in natural light, especially full sun, brings out the shimmer, though it is not quite as pronounced as Crush On Me. If layered, the finish stays glossy.

Longevity: Fades quickly, as it has no traction. If you have pale lip pigment, you might need a lip pencil to keep the color anchored down. If you have medium or dark pigment, this one might not show up on you.

Overall: My hands-down favorite of the eight I tried. However, I will likely pass because I already own several nearly-identical colors, some with similar finishes: Chanel RCS Bonheur, NARS Damage, Dior Fasshion Week, and MAC Plumful and Milani Mode (in the lustre formula. Every one of those alternative lipsticks has better staying power.

Color: Mid-toned, moderately-bright candy pink with a yellow base. Cool neutral. As I had imagined, Petal Pusher is lighter, more muted, and less red than it's vibrant sister Mix & Mingle.

Coverage: Semi opaque.

Texture: Cream. Not as slippery as Crush on Me and Boys N Berries.

Finish: Shiny with subtle gold shimmers. If layered, remains glossy.

Longevity: Two hours. Fades unevenly and leaves behind a pink stain. (From my hand swatches shown later on, Petal Pusher and Rebel stained my skin—I needed to use makeup remover, but I like staining lipsticks). When applied with a brush, lip pencil was not needed.

Overall: I liked everything about this lipstick except the color, which was slightly too bright and warm for my complexion. Petal Pusher might be ideal on cool/neutral skin tones (e.g., Light Summers and Bright Winters).

Overall: I did not love this formula, but remember it was a sample. The color might harmonize with higher-contrasting, warm or warm-neutral skin tones (Dark Autumns/Dark Winters) or perhaps higher-contrasting Soft Summers who can handle deeper pigments and the gold undertones.

Berry Blast. "Blend of raspberry and strawberry with bronze/gold glitter."

Color: Warm copper berry.

Coverage: Semi opaque, fairly pigmented.

Texture: Cream at first, but warmed up on my skin and became as migratory as Audrey.

Finish: Metallic bronze shimmer.

Longevity: About 1 hour before it bled outside vermilion border.

Overall: Best suited for warm/warm-neutral skin tones, but use a lip brush and apply in thin layers to avoid bleeding.

Rebel. "Blue-based red"

Color: More brown than blue based, similar to MAC Viva Glam I (original) but warmer.

Coverage: Opaque and highly pigmented.

Texture: Cream.

Finish: Shiny unless blotted down to a stain.

Longevity: Bulletproof.

Overall: Very pretty, not for shy types. I could see Rebel on dramatic Soft Summers and Dark Winters.

The gang, indirect sunlight

All 8 on my skin (MAC NW15, or pink porcelain). Taken in direct sunlight

Boys N Berries seem to be a chameleon, perhaps because it's sheer. On my lips it was cool toned, but swatched on white paper it looked more muted, though not warm.

If you were on Red Apple Lipstick's web site, you might have noticed that Boys N Berries was close in tone to Secrets, with Boys N Berries looking more sparky and Secrets looking like the lighter of the two.

I believe all three of these lipsticks, which are newer in the RAL lineup, all have the same formula. They are all free of gluten, soy, fragrance, and parabens.

Texture: Smooth and creamy with a satin dry down. My lips felt moist for the first couple hours.

Finish: Satin. I'm not sure now many formulas Red Apple Lipstick makes, but from what I have read, some of their lipsticks are glossy, some are sheer, and others have enough shimmer to make them appear metallic or bronzed. Some are also lightly fragranced, but you can filter results for nut and fragrance free lipsticks of those ingredients bother you.

Longevity: When the color faded, it did so fairly evenly, not from the center. A single application lasted around 4 hours before the color needed refreshing. The two darker colors left a modest stain with no bleeding or feathering; however a couple samples I purchased did feather. I will describe them in an upcoming post.

RAL suggests applying their lipsticks at 1/4 to 1/2 intensity (e.g., not straight from bullet to lips), but I found that difficult to do with Cranberry Magic and Mix & Mingle, as both are extremely pigmented. Even applying with a lip blush and blotting put down vibrant color. I found the easiest way for me to wear these was to dot the bullet a few times on my lips and blend/sheer out with balm and my fingertip.

The following photo shows Cranberry Magic, Mix & Mingle, and Pinkle Twinkle blotted on white paper, to show the colors and undertones.

None of the three lipsticks matches my 12 Tone True Summer palette, but I do like the colors, all fo which are cool or at least cool-neutral. Cranberry Magic, a red berry, seems to harmonize best with TSu colors. It also has the most shimmer of the three, but it isn't that detectable when worn sheer.

Mix & Mingle is fuchsia, whereas I prefer a clear hot pink. Yes, there's a difference. Fuchsia has red undertones, which add warmth. Mix & Mingle harmonizes best with the Light Summer palette below. Applied full strength from the bullet, it might even suit higher-contrasting Bright Winter/Bright Spring complexions. I wish I had Petal Pusher to compare, as I have the feeling Petal Pusher might be more flattering on cool, low/medium-contrasting complexions.

Pinkle Twinkle is a mid-toned, blue-based, greyed-pink lavender. It also contains gold shimmer, which adds warmth. The color reminds me a bit of Dior Lip Addict Extreme in Incognito, although I see no obvious beige in Pinkle Twinkle, so it isn't quite a nude. Overall, this color seems to harmonize best with the more muted Soft Summer palette. The gold overtones definitely direct it toward the autumnal season.

Pinkle Twinkle compared to the 12 Tone Soft Summer fan

Compared to one of the Light Summer sleeves, Mix & Mingle is dairly good at the mid range of the sleeve. However, the deep pigment makes me think it's more suitable for the Bright seasons.

Lipsticks compared to 12 Tone Light Summer fan

Next to Soft Summer, only Pinkle Twinkle harmonizes—the other two look garish by comparison.

Lipsticks compared to 12 Tone Soft Summer fan

Buying lipstick sight unseen can be hard, though most of us have done it. Red Apple Lipstick lets you create your own sample pack. Each pack comes with instructions and a brush. I found the brush useless, though I did use the non-business end to scoop the lipstick out of the bubble.

Red Apple Lipstick samples cost $3.50 each. They are 1/8" thick and contain slightly more product than a sample from White Rabbit Beauty, which Jean sends in an airtight pot for $1. One RAL blister is enough for one day if sampling a sheer color. I could have gotten a few days out of the more pigmented lipsticks, like Vogue. However, the seal on the blister is just a paper sticker. Once peeled off (easy to mangle/doesn't re-stick), the lipstick is exposed to the environment. If you have empty screw-top pots, such as samples used by most mineral brands, consider transferring your RAL lipstick samples to the pot to keep it fresh.

Monday, February 17, 2014

I am a self proclaimed lip balm junkie, as you might have witnessed on this blog here and here and here. I recently picked up Red Apple Lipstick (RAL) Rallye Balm ($15) when I was searching for certified gluten-free companies.

The lip balm is firm, creamy (not greasy), vegan, gluten free, soy free, and paraben free. Its Vitamin E is suspended in cold-pressed castor seed oil to nourish lip tissue and ward off free radicals. It also has an SPF of 8.

No ingredient list is provided on the packaging. Only this:

My lips were already in good condition, considering it's been one of the coldest, driest winters in years. I have been using Julie Hewett Camellia Lip Balm for a few years, and if my lips got flaky from wearing matte lipsticks, I just used some balm with a damp toothbrush to deflake.

The reviews for Rallye Balm were so overwhelmingly positive, I couldn't wait to receive it. The minute it arrived, I practically bathed in it. I swiped it on my lips and outside the vermilion border. I also used it around my nose, which was sore from a recent cold.

Bottom half of the tube has a nubby texture for a no-slip grip

After a few days, the raw skin around my nose healed very quickly, but within a week of daily use on my lips, I was disappointed to discover that something in the ingredients, perhaps the physical sunscreen, irritated the skin around my mouth. To be clear, my lips felt fantastic—nourished, smooth, and flake free. It was the skin surrounding my lips, in the corners to be precise, that became red, itchy, and crusty. Thinking this issue must be related to something else, I used even more Rallye Balm to help heal the area. The more I used the more irritated that area became.

If I contain Rallye application to just my lips, I find it to be an excellent lip balm. I also like to use it to sheer out highly-pigmented satin and matte lipsticks, such as RAL's Cranberry Magic.

Rallye Balm has no color or scent.

I also tried some of Red Apple Lipstick's suggested application tips.

Blush: I mixed Rallye Balm with Red Apple Lipstick's Mix & Mingle lipstick on the back of my hand. Then I used my fingertip to dot onto my cheeks and blend. I liked the result, which dried down to a satiny (non sticky) finish. Just a hint of clear, sheer pink.

Eyeliner: I used the technique shown in the following video to make a "gel" eyeliner. Although it worked well, I prefer using water to make a mineral eyeliner. I also don't know how my eyes would react if I used Rallye balm at the lash roots every day. Maybe it would be fine, and maybe I'll try it at some point—a lot of people use castor oil as a lash growth serum.

Eyelid primer: It seems counterproductive to apply an oil-based product under powder eyeshadow, but I tried it nonetheless. I rubbed the bullet directly over my clean eyelids, let it sink in, smoothed it out with my fingertip, and then patted down RAL's Pixie Dust eyeshadow as a base. If your eyelids are very oily, this method might not work for you. It was OK as a primer, but I prefer Paula Dorf.

Bottom line: I wish RAL listed the ingredients on their packaging so I could identify what was irritating the corners of my mouth. It's a very good lip balm, but I can't call it holy grail.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Did the Everyday Beauty blog drop off your feed for lack of activity? Part of my silence the last year has been due to work. But I also hadn't been feeling my best. It became difficult to muster up the energy—let alone excitement—to put on my face and write about it.

Some of you know I stopped eating gluten a few years back. The dietary change initially improved my health in measurable ways, but about a year ago, my health started to backslide: Allergies, skin rashes, low energy, etc.

Looking back, there were signs pointing to the problem. A Facebook friend had earlier mentioned that I should consider avoiding gluten in my beauty products. I started reading labels on my lipsticks (the #1 item to be gluten free if you are sensitive), and I thought I had verified that none contained unwanted ingredients, but I didn't know how extensive the "hidden gluten" list was. I also didn't think I needed to be as careful about other products. It's not like I eat my shampoo.

... which was not an entirely true assumption. I touch my hair, and then my fingers could end up in my mouth, such as when rubbing on lip balm or eating fruit. I had been so careful to avoid eating gluten-containing foods, but I was still consuming hidden gluten via some of my beauty products.

When I began to pay closer attention to the ingredients that went into my shampoo, conditioner, styling products, moisturizer, serums, sunscreen, body care, and makeup, I found gluten lurking everywhere. I then quickly discovered how challenging it was to find 100% gluten free products.

I called the customer service department of every brand of beauty product I owned, and most of them said: "We don't add gluten to our products." What they said on the phone was sometimes different from what they'd put in an email (those that chose to respond to me).

I've spent the last several months researching and testing gluten-free skincare, hair care, and cosmetics. The challenge has been finding items that work for me. It seems that "natural" skin and hair care products favor the driest of dry skins. I also don't want my only choice for makeup to be muted, earthy tones that are commonplace among mineral brands. I want skincare that feels silky, without silicones or sludge. I want lipsticks and blushes that are skin-brightening and modern.

Even armed with a list of dozens of nearly unpronounceable ingredient names (see bottom of this article for the full list), I learned that an ingredient list doesn't always tell the whole story. For example, pick up any lipstick box you have hanging around. What ingredient comes close to the end of the list? Tocopherol. That's vitamin E, a fat-soluble chemical that contains antioxidant properties. I learned that tocopherol is sometimes made from wheat germ oil. Sometimes it's not. However, the company doesn't always know whether their tocopherol comes from wheat, soy, rice, or something else.

Just by changing my glutinated products for those I could verify were gluten free, my skin calmed, my eyes became brighter, I lost the allergy-based dark "shiners" under my eyes, the milia bumps disappeared, my hair looked shinier, and my nails grew faster and stronger.

What's next for EDB?

Going forward, articles will largely be the same as what you're used to—reviews, comparisons, and my opinions on various beauty-related things—but the products I review will be gluten free. Not all products will come from certified gluten-free companies. While desirable, I don't think it's completely necessary, when I can still buy Chanel and Dior and (some) MAC lipsticks and not get glutinated.